Excerpts  from the book: The Chickasaw Nation:
A Short Sketch of a Noble People
 By James Henry Malone 1922

George Gist, father of Sequoyah


About 1739 there came from Bavaria to Ebenezer a family
of Swabia, Franconia ancestry, very different in character from
the first settlers, being influenced by the hope of gain and having
no religious aspirations. To this family was born a boy named
George Gist; who grew up in ignorance, could speak only a few
words in English or Cherokee, and was noted only for his cunning,
lazy, and shiftless disposition, so that he could not procure a
peddler's license, in lieu of which he became an illicit Indian trader.
This boy was destined to become the father of the most
illustrious North American Indian, the intellectual peer of the
wisest men in the history of mankind....

The Cherokees had marked out a path from Augusta,
Georgia, to their country, over which horsemen could ride to all
parts of the Cherokee country. George Gist is said to have taken
this path for the Cherokee country, with two pack horses laden
with merchandise suitable for trade with the Indians.


Sequoyah's mother

There he met a Cherokee Indian girl who pleased his fancy,
and she evidently was flattered by his professions, and they
became husband and wife according to the customs of her people;
and to her obligations in the marriage relation she was ever
faithful, and proved a devoted mother, judged by the highest
standards of the most enlightened people.

She came of a good family, her father being a chief in Great
Echota, the town of refuge in the Cherokee nation, for they had
a city of refuge similar to that of the ancient Jews, Great Echota
being situated on the little Tennessee River, in what is now
Monroe County, east Tennessee.

Speaking of the Indian wife, at p. 17 Foster says: "
While our Dutch peddler smoked his home-made pipe
around the fire or joined in the chase when his indolence would
allow, she cultivated the maize, even cleared a piece of land for
tillage; she helped put up a wigwam; she prepared and dried the
skins, and fashioned them into clothing, and cooked his food
over the wigwam fire. She even butchered the game, saddled
the horses, and cared for them on his return; she brought the
wood, fetched the water, and yet, though practically a slave,
as she knew no better way, she was accounted a very happy
woman. Her hope of happiness was based on her devotion to
her husband; so the more she did for him, the more contented
she became."

It is a singular fact that I have not seen the name of this
remarkable woman in any of the books I have been able to read.
I have written many letters to various persons, endeavoring to
ascertain her name and at least some of the circumstances connected
with her life.
In a letter to Senator Robert L. Owens by Commissioner
Sells, of January 2ist, 1921, it is said, "I am informed by Mr.
Frank Boudinot, an attorney residing at the Northbrook Courts,
this city (Washington), that the name of the mother of Sequoyah,
was Wut-teh." A letter directed by myself to Mr. Boudinot
failed to elicit any reply.


Birth of Sequoyah

In this letter of Commissioner Sells, he also states that the native
or Indian name of Sequoyah was Sikwayi, which accords with the
various articles I have read. Gist soon wearied of this new life, and
deserted his faithful and devoted wife, stealing away clandestinely
and was never heard of again, sinking into oblivion which he so well
 deserved. In due course, about the year 1760, in the village of Taskigi
on the Little Tennessee River, in what is now Monroe County,
 Tennessee, a baby boy was born to the deserted Indian mother, and
 it is said the mother named the babe Sequoyah (in the Indian tongue-Sikwayi),
 because in the musical Cherokee language that name meant, "He guessed it";
 that is, the faithless father guessed it would be a boy. It may be added,
however, that there is a dispute as to the origin of the name, and that
Sequoyah generally was known among the white people as George Guess,
 which name he appears to have assumed, and he used the name "Guess"
 as a trade mark, by stamping it on the silver ornaments he made as a silversmith.
The Cherokees to this day cherish his Indian name, and proudly call him Sequoyah.

The mother of Sequoyah had eight acres of land, some horses and cattle,
and maintained herself and child by her own exertions, the boy soon joining
his mother in her labors, making a new kind of wooden milk pan, building
 a milk-house over a cool gushing mountain spring; and when she contrived
to get a small stock of goods, she taught him how to be a good judge of furs,
 and he went on hunting and trading excursions in the valleys of the Tennessee
 and Ohio Rivers, and came home laden with furs. Upon him the mother lavished
all the fond affections of a mother's heart, and from her he evidently inherited
 all the energy and perseverance of his nature...

Sequoyah Becomes a Man

The large Spanish, French, and English coins which came
into his hands were fashioned into rings, bracelets, necklaces,
and other ornaments with so much skill that he became the most
famous silversmith in all the land. He also turned his attention
to art, and without a teacher drew sketches of deer, horses,
cows, and other familiar objects, and though rude at first his
skill so improved that his sketches presented a very good resemblance
to the objects they were designed to represent; and he
also became a most famous story-teller, and altogether we are
not surprised that he easily became the most popular Cherokee
in all the tribe.

Having lost his mother, it is said his home became the
rendezvous for all the wild and gay young Indian warriors, and
that Sequoyah for a time became dissipated, but exercising that
strong will for which he was noted, he eventually cast aside forever
his indulgence in intoxicating liquors.

Sequoyah grows up and marries

Sequoyah eventually married, and speaking of his wife
Foster (p. 69) says: "
This wife which Sequoyah took was no common Indian
maiden. In form she was like the women of her race; she was
tall, erect, and of a delicate frame; her features formed with
perfect symmetry, and her countenance was cheerful and amiable.
Both in her soul and that of Sequoyah was a higher intuition
than appeared to be bestowed on any other of the Cherokee
tribe. For a time their sympathies were one, and for a time their
lives were markedly happy. For all nature spoke in plainest
utterances to them that which it only whispered unto others. "
Every bird that sung, every scene of Nature seemed to inspire
new thoughts and awaken new aspirations in Sequoyah. "
Even the wind playing melodies on the tree leaves seemed
to him like words of the Great Spirit, which his sensitive nature
translated into words of wisdom. "

Nature was his teacher, through which he lived a life beyond
the ken of all others in the Cherokee tribe. But as the honeymoon
wore off, he became more meditative and philosophically
inclined, and she more thoroughly practical. She worked and he
dreamed, and thus their lives grew widely apart. She became a
virago and on many a morning, in later years, the voice of Se-
quoyah's wife could be heard giving her lord 'Jesse' for the lack
of such industry as she exclusively held in esteem. 'However,'
says, Boudinot, the Executive Secretary of the nation, 'he
seemed to have taken all his scoldings with great equanimity.
No doubt he put himself in her place and made full allowance
for the disagreeable prospect from her standpoint.' '


The Great Invention-

We have seen that from early childhood Sequoyah evinced
an inventive talent and that he became an expert silversmith,
but the crowning work of his life was his invention of the Cherokee
syllabic alphabet, the simplest, most complete, and the
most perfect in the long history of mankind. I realize that this
is a sweeping statement, nevertheless it is true in every respect.
If it should be supposed that this alphabet was but the
product of genius, unaccompanied by study, toil, and self denial,
there could not be a greater mistake.
The germ, or underlying principles, involved in its production
no doubt engaged the profound thoughts of Sequoyah for
years before he gave himself entirely over to working out its
details.

As might be expected, there are various reasons assigned as
to the causes which led Sequoyah to enter upon years of labor to
produce his alphabet. Some ascribe it to a taunting remark
made by some of his companions, when, around the camp fire,
Sequoyah casually stated that he could invent an alphabet equal
to that of the white man. The party was discussing some written
pages of a letter that had been found on a white captive prisoner,
which they called "speaking leaves."

Stung by the incredulous taunts of his companions, it is
claimed that then and there Sequoyah registered a secret vow to
make good his statement. It is also said that in the troubles of
the Cherokees with the white settlers, when the latter began
encroaching on the territory of the Indians, it became a much
debated question as to the source of the superiority of the white
man over the Indian. Sequoyah in early life was a hunter and
trader in furs, but met with an accident which made him a
cripple for life. He was naturally of a contemplative disposition
and had an inventive turn of mind. His physical affliction gave
him more time for thought and reflection, and he came to the
conclusion that the ability of the white man to read and write
and thus transmit his thoughts, not only to the present, but
future generations, was the mainspring of the superiority of the
white man.


Inventing the syllabic alphabet

About the year 1809, without knowing any language except
that of the Cherokee, and never having gone to school a day in
his life, and, of course, without any education whatever, or any
knowledge of the arts of the white man, he set to work to invent
an alphabet for the Cherokees, and, retiring to the woods, and
listening to all sounds, and comparing them with the words of
the Cherokee language, after twelve years he put forth, in 1821,
his alphabet, consisting of eighty-five characters.
In the meantime he was ridiculed and laughed at; but
nothing could dampen his ardor or check his labors.
Not only many of his Indian friends, but the agents of the
United States government residing among the Cherokees believed
that his mind was affected, being unable to comprehend the nature
of his labors.

The first plan of Sequoyah was recognizing sounds in nature
which corresponded to tones in the Cherokee language, and then
to represent this sound by drawing a picture of some natural
object which made the sound; but he found that these pictures
and characters so multiplied that no one could remember them,
and after long labors along these lines, in which he had the
assistance of his wife and children, he was finally compelled to
abandon the plan.

The philosophy underlying the final plan upon which
Sequoyah created his syllabic alphabet was to have one letter
to represent each and every sound the human throat can utter.
One letter would represent in this way parts of different words,
with the result that the number of characters would be comparatively
small.

Foster (p. 102) quotes Phillips in Harpers Magazine of
September, 1870, as explaining more in detail the principles
upon which the alphabet was constructed as follows: "
Sequoyah discovered that the language possessed certain
musical sounds, such as we call vowels, and dividing sounds,
called by us consonants. In determining his vowels he varied,
during the progress of discoveries, but finally settled on the six,
a, e, i, o, u, and a guttural vowel sounding like « in ung. These
had long and short sounds, with the exception of the guttural.
He next considered his consonants, or dividing sounds, and
estimated the number of combinations of these that would give
all the sounds required to make words in their language. He
first adopted fifteen for the dividing sounds, but settled on
twelve primary, the g and k being one and sounding more like
k than g, and d like t. These may be represented in English as
g, h, I, m, n, qu, t, dl or //, ts, w, y, z. It will be seen that if these
twelve be multiplied by six vowels, the number of possible
combinations or syllables would be seventy-two, and by adding
the vowel sounds which may be syllables, the number would be
seventy-eight. However, the guttural M, or sound of u in ung,
does not appear among the combinations, making seventy-
seven. "

Still his work was not complete. The hissing sound of s
entered into the ramification of so many sounds, as in sta, stu,
spa, spe, that it would have required a large addition to his
alphabet to meet this demand. This he simplified by using a
distinct character for the s (oo) to be used in such combinations.
To provide for the varying sounds g and k, he added a symbol,
which has been written in English ka. As the syllable na is
liable to be aspirated, he added symbols written nah and kna.
To have distinct representatives for the combinations rising out
of the different sounds of d and t, he added symbols for ta, te, ti
and another for dla, thus tla. These completed the eighty-five
characters of his alphabet of syllables and not of letters."

At the time Sequoyah completed his alphabet, he was living
in a log cabin in Georgia in comparative poverty; and as he had
spent so many years in working out his theory in poverty, the
general opinion was that he was at least partially demented;
hence he was unable to convince any one of the practical utility
of his marvelous alphabet.

The New Written Language

As some of the Cherokees had moved to the new Arkansas
country, he visited them there, and endeavored to have the Cherokees
there understand his alphabet, and finally succeeded in
having one write a letter to a friend back in Georgia, which he
brought with him on his return home; and while his people
wondered greatly when it was read, still they were not convinced.
Sequoyah called a meeting of the most prominent men
among the Cherokees, and also explained his alphabet to Col.
Lowrey, the Indian agent, who lived only three miles from his
cabin, and to all of them he explained in detail the principles of
his alphabet; still they could not comprehend it.

Sequoyah had taught his alphabet to his little daughter,
Ahyokeh, then only six years old, and sending her away he wrote
down any word or sentiment his friends named, and when
called back, she readily read what had been written. While
Col. Lowrey at first thought that Sequoyah was deceiving
himself, he finally began to doubt whether he was the deluded
schemer which others thought him to be.

The syllabary was soon recognized by the Cherokees as an
invaluable invention, and such was its simplicity and adaptability
to the Cherokee language that money or schools and academies
were unnecessary, for it could be easily learned in the tepee,
or on the trail, and in a few months thousands of Cherokees
could read and write in their language with ease and facility,
thereby placing that nation far in advance of any other Indian
tribe. The Cherokees, in recognition of Sequoyah's invention,
presented him with a medal, and in 1828 he visited Washington
and attracted much attention. In the treaty of that year he was
given $500.00 by the United States Congress for the great benefit
he had conferred upon the Cherokee people in the invention of
his wonderful alphabet.


The Last Days of Sequoyah

Where the mortal remains of Sequoyah rest, no man knows,
though it is generally conceded that he died amid the towering
peaks of the Rocky Mountain ranges. His ancient ancestors
occupied the loftiest peaks of the Appalachian Mountains, and
as intellectually he towered far above the average man, it seems
fitting that he should have sought the lofty ranges of the West,
after his people had been driven from their homes in the East,
to breathe his last, and yield up his spirit to "The Beloved One
who dwelleth in the blue sky."

This short sketch will not admit of the various versions as to
the circumstances attending the last days of Sequoyah, much less
the speculations as to where his body now sleeps; but in reference
to his later years this much may be said:
In 1823 he took up his permanent residence in Arkansas,
where a portion of the tribe had been removed. He took a
prominent part in the treaties by which the Cherokees, or the
most of them, were moved from their homes in North Carolina
to the West.

In his declining years Sequoyah withdrew from activities
among the Cherokees, and once again gave himself over to
speculative ideas. He conceived the idea that there should be
elements of a common speech and grammar among the various
Indian languages, and he traveled far and near among many
tribes in a vain endeavor to demonstrate the correctness of his
theory. There was a current tradition to the effect that in
ancient times a band of Cherokees, forsaking their mountain
home and kindred in the Appalachian range, had crossed the
Mississippi River and found another home in a distant range of
mountains in the West.

Sequoyah In the Hall of Fame

In 1911 the Legislature of the new State of Oklahoma
honored itself in the passage of an act to place in the rotunda of
the Capitol, the Hall of Fame at Washington, D. C., a splendid
bronze statue of Sequoyah, as a famous man from that state.
The presentation was made, and the statue unveiled on
June 6, 1917, Honorable Charles D. Carter, member of Congress
from the third district of Oklahoma, himself a distinguished
descendant of the intrepid Chickasaws, being chairman of the
meeting.

The presentation speech was made by Senator Robert L.
Owen, of Oklahoma, he being of Cherokee descent and a man of
distinguished ability; and among other things he said: "
It is a strange thing that no alphabet in all the world
reaches the dignity, the simplicity, and the value of the Cherokee
alphabet as invented by Sequoyah. The European alphabet
goes too far in providing analysis of sound and permits such
large variations in spelling that it is a task of years to learn how
to spell correctly in any of the European languages. With the
Sequoyah alphabet a Cherokee could learn to spell in one day. "
Thus the labor of years was saved to the student. So
great an intellectual accomplishment was this that Canon
Kingsley named the great red cedars of California, which towered
as high as four hundred feet into the air and which were twenty-
five feet through at the base, 'sequoias,' because they were
typical of the greatest native North American Indian."

Upon the same occasion Speaker Champ Clark said: "
When I was a boy, my father believed in phonetics and I
believe in phonetics. Sequoyah invented simply a large and
complete phonetic system in which everything is spelled by
sound, which is the correct way. If he had lived two thousand
years ago and had invented his alphabet and had got people to
use it, one-fifth of the time of the usual life could have been
saved. (Applause.) On the average, we spend one-fifth of our
lives learning how to spell and we don't know yet. (Laughter
and applause.)"

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